Mop



M. L. BUELL MOP Filed March 21, 1934 Patented July 30, 1935 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE g 7 Claims. (Cl. 15- 120) This invention relates to mops and more particularly to a mop of the self-wringing type.

An object of this invention isto provide in a mop'structure, means whereby the absorbent portion thereof may be wrung out by a seriesof wringing operations, that is, the absorbent portion initially twisted as tight as possible and then looked and subsequently released and twisted additionally to wring out the wiper to an exceedingly dry condition.

A further" object of this invention is to provide in a mop structure'of this kind, means whereby the'wiper will beheld in operative position.

'The above and various other objects and advantages of this invention will in part be described and in part be understood from the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure .1 is a detail front elevation partly broken away of a ,mop'constructed according to the embodiment of this invention.

' Figure 2 is a detail sideelevation of the device partly broken away.

Figure 3 is an enlargedsectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout'the .views, thenumeral I0 designates generally a handle of 'suitable'length provided at its inner end with a cross member I3 so as to facilitate the twisting operation of the limb structure, as will be hereinafter described.

.An. elongated rod I I is secured to the outer end of the handle II! and is provided with a looped head I2. A mop swab W is looped through the ,head I2 and thisswab comprise'sa moisture absorbing means in the form of a pad having a plurality of strands of absorbent material suitably secured together.

, A tubular slide member I4 is slidably and rotatably disposed on "the rod H and is provided at its forward side with opposed elongated slots I5 which receive a stop pin I6 carriedby the rod l I adjacent the forward end thereof; The sleeve. or tubularmember I4 is provided with opposed trunnions I1 which are internally threaded one with a right hand thread'an'd the other witha left hand thread, andthreaded tighteningfelejments I 8 are threadedin' thethread bores of the trunnions I1 and each bolt I8 is provided with a head I9 adapted to receive. an end .20 ofj an operating arm structure,jgenerallydesignated as ZI which may be welded or otherwise secured to thehead I9.

The trunnions I] are engaged by eye members -22 carried'by links'23, which are disposed in opposed relation to each other and engage through the swab W These link members 23 are disposed with the free ends in overlapping relation, as, .5 shown in Figure 2 and are provided with upturned end portions 24 to prevent the swab W f-rcm slipping off from the free ends thereof.

The wringing handle 21 comprises a pair of substantially straight rods 25 connected together 10 a-ttheir inner ends as by a loopZB and provided at their forward ends with'divergent arms ZIhaving their extremities secured to the heads I9 of the threaded members I8 as by welding or other "securing means. These rods-25 converge in a 15 forward direction sufliciently so that their forward ends and the rear convergent ends of the arms Zlare spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of the rod I I, and the arms 21 are inclined to the} longitudinal axis of the rods so that when the handle portion 26 is pressed against the rod I I, the convergent ends of "the arms Hand the forward ends of the rods 25 will be disposed on the opposite side of the rod II from the handle 26. Inthis manner, the arms 21 :25 and the forward ends of the rods 25 comprise a locking means to lock the operating arm structure 2| upon the rod II. When in inoperative .position, the-looped portion or handle 26 engages against the forward end of the handle 30 I0 and is held against rearward movement thereby. p n the use and operation of the mop structure herein disclosed, when it is desired to use the structure to wipe a wetsurface,the oper- 'atingarm structure 2i will be disposed with the loop portion '26 against the rod and with the clamping arms 21 engaging the rod I I me. manner to prevent lateral swinging movement of the operating arnrZI Preferably the sleeve 14 is 40 disposed adjacent the forward end of the rod II with the pm I 6 engaging in the slot I5 {of the sleeve Itso that the wringing structurewill be held against turning movement on the rod II.

In this positiornthe mop may be used to clean 1.45 the .desired'surface.

When it is' desired to wring the wiper W, the wringing-handle 26 is pulled laterally of the rod 11 and'the handle It so as to release the arms 27 from the rod I I, and this movement will cause v the threaded locking members I8 to be moved axially toward the rod II because of the screw action; V :In practice, the handle-l6 may be moved for adistanc'e away-from the rod II in whichposi- $5 tion the slide [4 may be freely moved longitudinally of the rod ll. However, a further movement of the handle 26 will cause the locking members 18 to frictionally engage the periphery of the rod ii so as to resist turning of the rod H relative to the handle 26. Ihe handle I0 may then be turned against the resistance of the holding members i8 and when the wiper W has been twisted to a considerable extent, the handle 26 can be moved laterally an additional distance so that the slide M will be locked against movement longitudinally and circumferentially. The

cross bar l3 can then be re-grasped and the handle 26 moved in slightly so that the handle 10 may be turned an additional amount until the wiper W has been twisted about the rod ll sufficiently to wring out substantially all of the water absorbed thereby.

What is claimed is:-

1. A wringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having a threaded opening through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve, a

rod clamping bolt threaded in said opening, and an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of a hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to said bolt at'its outer endin such relation that the bolt is moved out of clamping engagement with the rod when the arm is swung toward said rod to permit wringing of said mop swab by relative rotation of the sleeve and rod and the bolt engages the rod to lock the sleeve thereon when the arm is swung outwardly and transverse to the rod.

2. A wringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having a threaded opening through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve a rod clamping bolt threaded in said opening, an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of a hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to said bolt at its outer end in such relation that the bolt is moved out of "clamping engagement with the rod when the arm is swung toward said rod to permit wringing of said mop swab by relative rotation of the sleeve in the rod and that the bolt engages the rod to lock the sleeve thereon when the arm is swung outwardly and transverse to the rod, and clamping means carried by said operating arm and engageable with said rod when said arm is swung toward said rod, for holding said operating arm in a position to maintain said clamping bolt in released position. v 1 t 3. A wringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having a threaded opening through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve, a rod clamping bolt threaded in said opening, an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of a hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to said bolt at its outer end in such relation that the bolt is moved'out of clamping engagement with the rod when the arm is swung toward said rod to permit wringing of said mop swab by relative rotation of the sleeve and rod and that the b lt engages the rod to lock the sleeve thereon when the arm is swung outwardly and transverse to the rod, and a resilient clamping means carried by the arm intermediate the ends thereof to engage the rod for holding said clamping bolt in on said sleeve, a pair of rod clamping bolts threaded one in each of said openings and an operating arm longer than the width of the palm oi a hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to each of said bolts at their outer ends in such relation that the bolts are moved out of clamping engagement with the rod when the arm is swung toward the rod to permit wringing of said mop swab by relative rotation of the sleeve and rod and that the bolts engage the rod to lock the sleeve thereon when the arm is swung outwardly and transverse to the rod.

5. A wringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having a pair of opposed threaded openings through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve, a pair of rod clamping bolts threaded one in each of said openings, an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of a hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to each of said bolts at their outer ends in such relation that the bolts are moved out of clamping engagement with the rod when the arm is swung toward said rod to permit wringing of said mop swab by relative rotation of the sleeve and rod and that the bolts engage the rod to lock the sleeve thereon when the arm is swung outwardly and transverse to the rod, and a pair of rod clamping members carried by said arm intermediate the ends thereof and engageable with the rod when the arm is swung toward the rod for holding the arm in a position substantially parallel with the rod and maintaining said clamping bolts in released position.

6. A wringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having an opening through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve, an elongated rod clamping member extending through said opening and rotatably mounted and retained against accidental longitudinal displacement, and an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of the hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to said clamping member atits outer end, cam means associated with said sleeve and said member to move a portion of the inner end or" the member into clamping engagement with the rod by a thrust along the longitudinal axis of the elongated member upon swinging of the arm outwardly from and transverse to the rod and adapted to move said portion out of clamping engagement with the rod upon swinging of the arm toward the rod to permit wringing of the mop swab by relativerotation of the sleeve and rod.

7. A owringer mop, comprising a handle rod having means to secure a portion of a mop swab at its outer end, a sleeve slidably and rotatably mounted on said rod and having a pair of opposed openings through its side wall, means to secure another portion of the mop swab on said sleeve, a pair of elongated rod clamping membersextending through said openings one in each of said openings and rotatably mounted and re tained against accidental longitudinal displacement, and an operating arm longer than the width of the palm of the hand substantially perpendicular to and fixed to each of said clamping members at its outer end, cam means asso- 10 ciated with said sleeve and said members to MARGARET L. BUELL. 10 

